To Make a Prairie
An ethereal setting of Emily Dickinson’s timeless musing on creation and dreams
Music: Elizabeth Alexander
Words: Emily Dickinson
An ethereal setting of Emily Dickinson’s small but timeless poem about creativity, perseverance and vision. Opening with a dream-like piano part and delicate unison vocal lines, To Make a Prairie is embued throughout with an atmosphere of mystery and awe.
“Determination. Mindfulness. Fortitude. Strength. Resilience. These ideas and more come to the surface when Elizabeth Alexander’s stirring music and Emily Dickinson’s inspirational text are paired together… The poem is only five lines long but can be profoundly impactful. Alexander’s musical setting is equally influential, creating an ethereal dream-like state through chromaticism and legato lines…” Reprinted from the ChoralNet blog, “One from the Folder,” Dr. Shelbie Wahl-Fouts, Associate Professor, Hollins University
Details and Ordering Information
To Make a Prairie
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee —
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
Emily Dickinson
© by Little, Brown and Company. Reprinted by permission of the publisher
Performers
Premiere: Women-in-Music Chorale / Christine Strohl (Columbus, OH)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Glen Ellyn, IL)
Carolyn Slenska, Betsy Yarrison and Mimi Stevens (Alexandria, VA)
Celestia, of The Concord Singers / Michael Sanflippo (Summit, NJ)
Fine Arts Chorale of Kansas City / Terri Teal (Kansas City and Prairie Village, MO)
Good Company! / Steven Hoifeldt (Ames, IA)
Rutgers University Queen’s Chorale / Steven A. Russell (New Brunswick, NJ)
